Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out (Daft Punk Mix)". Thanks to stx, I managed to get my hands on this terrific remix off a new French 7". The song is surprisingly untouched, but what Daft Punk have done is to transform Franz Ferdinand into the band I wish they were. As usual, Pitchfork gets it totally wrong:
"The efforts of Daft Punk, unfortunately, add very little to a perfectly realized song, and prove deeply disappointing. Much like slapping bright-orange lipstick and green eyeshadow on a naturally beautiful girl, their electro-squelch additions simply seem detrimental to the original package."See, the problem with Franz Ferdinand, for me, is that its dun face needs some make-up. The album hops and struts, but it feels like rock'n'roll in a big ole' gymnasium - the sounds dissipating in the air. It's a lotta noise that's pretty easy to ignore, one man on the piazza, flailing in a leather jacket.
It's true that Daft Punk haven't done much here, but what they have done is brilliant. Instead of reimagining the song, they've simply fixed it: they've squeezed the walls, knocked the light-bulbs out. The song's got that same dandy spring, but coming in round the shoulders is a heavy analog synth, a dark pressure in the peripheral vision. Suddenly there's some real danger in the white flashes, the snaps of guitar. It's not just boys getting hip and bothered - there are wolves in dem walls. The stakes are raised; Alex Kapranos sings in those opening lines that he's "just a cross-hair ... just a shot, then we can die," and those kind of lyrics finally kinda make sense. This is the thrill of a chase, of a fight, of a long and strobing night.
Chad Van Gaalen - "Clinicly Dead". A favourite of both Monica and Annette, they saved me the trouble of having to figure out which song to share from Infiniheart. "Clinicly Dead" is smashing bedroom rock that comes at you from all directions; Flaming Lipsy lyrics and noisy Modest Mouse pop. Reminds me most of all of Grandaddy, albeit without any of the noodly synths. It's too bad VanGaalen's vocals are buried so deep in the mix: I'd love to hear them toe-to-toe with the chorus' blooming buzz. The rest of the album is charmingly eclectic, heart-on-sleeve balladry knocking up against electroacoustic instrumentals. [buy]
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I like lists. Totally silly, but there's some grim satisfaction to nailing things down at a particular moment. Inspired by Aaron, then, here are some ho-hum lists for 14/07/04. the year's been pretty mediocre for albums, so far, but my cup runneth over with singles. and, uh, i indulged.
fave 5 albums of 2004 so far
jolie holland - escondida
joanna newsom - milk-eyed mender
kanye west - college dropout
les mouches - you're worth more to me than 1000 christians
william basinski - disintegration loops 1
fave 30 songs of 2004 so far (one song per artist)
1. modest mouse - "float on"
2. arcade fire - "tunnels"
3. wilco - "at least that's what you said"
4. britney spears - "toxic"
5. joanna newsom - "bridges and balloons"
6. kanye west - "family business"
7. one-t and cool-t - "magic key"
8. royal city - "jerusalem"
9. sufjan stevens - "Seven swans"
10. camera obscura - "keep it clean"
11. the streets - "dry your eyes"
12. fiery furnaces - "straight street"
13. divine comedy - "our mutual friend"
14. wheat - "i met a girl"
15. rza - "grits"
16. avril lavigne - "my happy ending"
17. jolie holland - "do you"
18. usher ft. lil jon & ludacris - "yeah"
19. rachel's - "last things last"
20. the killers - "indie rock and roll"
21. new year - "disease"
22. mase - "welcome back"
23. counting crows - "accidentally in love"
24. feist - "mushaboom"
25. mouse on mars - "wipe that sound"
26. the bees - "chicken payback"
27. mf doom - "doper skiller"
28. mocky - "mickey mouse muthafuckers"
29. eamon - "fuck it"
30. hidden cameras - "builds the bone"
Sean, I hate to post this here, but no email acces. Rant comments have been down for a while, any way to fix?
Posted by Rosemary at July 14, 2004 1:17 AMJust wanted you to know - since I think you're the one that posted that Wheat song - I bought the album on the strength of that song and it's one of the best CD's I've picked up on 2004.
I'm also pretty happy with the new They Might Be Giants album that came out yesterday. "Idiot Museum" is an instant classic.
Posted by brooks at July 14, 2004 1:18 AMro - i'm more than aware. (and a "while" is an understatement.) but it's waaay beyond my ability and although i've bugged dave/jp, no go.
Posted by Sean at July 14, 2004 1:27 AMbrooks - yay! it's quite terrific, i agree.
Posted by Sean at July 14, 2004 1:27 AMOh, Daft Punk sure did turn that song pretty. Thanks for it!
And checkout our MP3blog if you're interested!
I'll second the vote for "Straight Street" (not to mention the votes for "Mushaboom," "Chicken Payback," and especially "At Least That's What You Said"), but the band is called The Fiery Furnaces. The album is "Blueberry Boat." And it is wonderful.
Posted by Paul at July 14, 2004 3:24 AMI just noticed: No Devendra Banhart. Are you not a fan, or are you simply uninitiated? Based on several of your selections, I'm forced to recommend his recent "Rejoicing in the Hands."
Posted by Paul at July 14, 2004 3:27 AMI'm going to have to disagree with you on the Daft Punk mix. That static-y filter hurts my ears! Honestly - the best part is when it cuts out at 2:25. It's nice that they fattened up the beat a bit and playing with the filter at the end is cool too but on the whole, nicht so gut. They could have done so much better!
Posted by James at July 14, 2004 4:46 AMI so so so agree on your Franz Ferdinand nééd the make-up tale. Daft Punk hit the exact spot someone needed to hit. Now I'm hoping Franz Ferdinand will bring out a complete remix album, with mixes bij Basement Jaxx, M83, Manitoba, maybe even Benny Benassi. I think they could make all the kind-of-nice-yet-pretty-boring attempts on their album into something wonderful.
Posted by Marten at July 14, 2004 5:27 AMHow could you possibly think that Daft Punk improved that song? Why can't you just take the original as is: catchy neu-garage with no frills? There's something charming about the "big ole' gymnasium" sound, I don't see how uninspired static "make-up" and feedback do anything more than send the listener scrambling for Advil.
Posted by Brian at July 14, 2004 11:04 AMOh lemme see here...
Albums of the Year
1. Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who...
2. Kanye West, The College Dropout
3. Wilco, A Ghost Is Born
4. The Streets, A Grand Don't Come For Free
(The fifth album on this list will likely be the new Phoenix or the new Last Days of April, just as soon as I find either one...sigh)
Songs of the Year
1. Modest Mouse, Float On
2. Phoenix, Victim of the Crime
3. Wilco, At Least That's What You Said
4. Kanye West, Jesus Walks
5. The Mountain Goats, Dance Music (unreleased but...)
6. Frakkur, ? (some odd solo thing from the singer from Sigur Ros, available from their site)
7. MF Doom, Cookies
8. Dilated Peoples with Kanye, This Way
9. Jon Brion, Strings That Tie To You
10. Morrissey, Irish Blood English Heart
Gotta make room for Iron & Wine and Magnetic Fields in there somewhere. You just gotta.
Posted by canowine at July 14, 2004 3:33 PMSpeaking of "that big 'ole gymnasium sound..." "Gymnasium" comes from the Greek word for "nude," and what Daft Punk have done is thrown some flashy duds on the naked body of a song that--face it--we've all heard a zillion times by now. Think of it as your old, empty, moldy-smelling high school gym, all jazzed up and ready for a madcap prom.
Posted by canowine at July 14, 2004 3:58 PMSean - thanks for adding me to your blog roll, I appreciate it and am flattered by it.
I want to now take the opportunity to invite your many fans to visit my new music blog -hipstereo.blogspot.com - all free+legal music found on mainly indie labels.
As for your lists, I agree with many of your choices and when I saw The Bees song, Chicken Payback, I had to listen to it again. I love it.
Alan
Posted by *sixeyes at July 14, 2004 6:24 PMChicken Payback is great fun. Can't complain about it.
I haven't heard about 1/3 of the songs on that list. ^_^
Posted by tuwa at July 14, 2004 6:41 PMPaul - thanks for that correction. And I do know "Rejoicing in the Hands." It's definitely in the top 20 albums right now (maybe even top 10), but I didn't really feel right slapping it in as one of the very very best of the year. I'm just not returning to it very often - there's something too musicbox about it.
Caley - I'll have to look up Frakkur... Any idea where I can find the MOuntain Goats tune?
canowine - I am not at all a fan of the new Iron and Wine. "I" is very fun, though.
re: daft punk hataz - I like my garage rock either laid back and mumbly (the Strokes), or totally intense. And when it comes to the dance-punk side of things, it needs to be even hotter (see Controller Controller, !!!). Franz Ferdinand (sans Daft Punk) just seem to mash about a lot - I'm not sure how to react... I can't really bop my head and give a stoned smile, but nor can I really - well - dance. Does that make any sense?
I totally understand why some people would be bored to tears (or to painkillers) by the remix, though. In many ways it's just "Take Me Out" with more distortion.
Posted by Sean at July 14, 2004 7:09 PM"Take Me Out" just bores me in general :X
Yes! Let's go, Ken Jennings! XD
Posted by elchan at July 14, 2004 8:13 PMSean, I posted Dance Music a wwhile back, And I think I still have it up over @ TTIKTDA.
-- yup, just checked, still there, but its coming down tonight most likely! So Hurry!
Posted by Keith at July 14, 2004 10:03 PMIf you miss it at TTIKTDA, shoot me your gmail address and I'll send it, I tried to dropload it, but for some reason that's not working for me... And just go to sigur-ros.com and look up the Frakkur show and there should still be a download there, it is not actually on the media page, though.
Posted by caley at July 14, 2004 11:03 PMThanks, Keith! (and caley!)
Posted by Sean at July 15, 2004 2:58 AMThat One T/Cool T song would easily be in my top three. And I see "Builds the Bone" but where's "Ban Marriage?"
Posted by CHRS at July 15, 2004 1:52 PM"Ban Marriage" came out in 2002 or 2003! :)
Posted by Sean at July 15, 2004 2:23 PMi listened to the daft remix of FF on computer speakers at first, and now i'm listening to it on a v.good pair of headphones - there's a lot more going on there than i'd first noticed... and i like it a lot
Posted by robot blair at July 15, 2004 3:05 PMI like the list. But I'm interested you picked "At Least That's What you Said" by Wilco out of all the tunes on that album. Thanks, as always, for keeping this site swell.
Posted by fairest at July 17, 2004 10:45 AMi fink eamon is dah best singer ive ever heard i love him so much all i talk bout is him and i dont no how frankie could have cheated on such a wonderful guy i would love him to be mi boyfriend but that will never ever happen in my room is eamon everythink and i would do anyfink crazy to meet him and i hope i will some day hope you read this eamon and maybe you will come to australia and to victoria and then to mildura man eamon if you came to mildura i would pay a fortune to come see you but i cant go out of mildura till i finish this year of school i love you bye eamon love from sammy-joe burnett
Posted by sammy at August 21, 2004 3:08 AM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
